HC Deb 15 July 1964 vol 698 cc1289-90

Lords Amendment: In page 5, line 11, at end insert: "supplied or to be"

7.45 p.m.

Mr. du Cann

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

In view of the very short discussion that we had on the last Amendment, perhaps it: may be the wish of the House that I should give a slightly more detailed explanation of this one. It is intended purely for clarification. The purpose is to make clear that the proviso to Clause 4(4) relates to goods to be supplied in the future as well as to goods already supplied. That is the point, and I hope that the House will regard it as an improvement.

Again, this was a matter raised by one of their Lordships and we are grateful to him for the attention he gave to the matter.

Mr. Jay

Even that is not quite clear to me. Obviously, the words "to be supplied" introduce the future in some sense, but can the Minister of State tell us what future it is—in relation to what? Does it mean the future as compared with the time at which the requirements were imposed by the supplier, that is to say, goods to be supplied at the time when these requirements or conditions were under negotiation? That is what I suppose it to mean, but unless we know in relation to what it is the future, the Amendment does not make very much sense if one merely says that the future is involved.

Mr. du Cann

By leave of the House, may I say that, if I understood the right hon. Gentleman's question aright—and I hope I have—the answer is, "Yes".

Question put and agreed to.